


Special Delivery

by DesChaos



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-23
Updated: 2017-01-25
Packaged: 2018-09-19 14:43:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,574
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9445967
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DesChaos/pseuds/DesChaos
Summary: To open the above ground restaurant Grillby wanted to ensure only the finest wines graced the lips of his guests. In order to do this he needed to deal with you, an aerospace engineer with a specialization in fire fighting systems.





	1. Chapter 1

“Enjoy your stay,” chimed the hotel manager as she handed over a key to the hotel room. The flame monster graciously took the small plastic key card from her hand before making his way down the red and gold paisley carpeted hallway. The only sound this late in the evening was the drag of his suitcase wheels on the ground behind him. 

First floor and closest to the front desk as always, as if he were going to spontaneously cause everything to combust around him. Letting out a sigh at the ignorance of the humans, he pushed the key into the lock and watched as the indicator turned green. His orange flamed hand pushing down the silver handle and allowing the door to swing open with his left shoulder pushing against it.

Before he could take two steps in he noticed something was off. The room was lit, normally the house keeping turned off the lights prior to departing the room. There was steam coming from the bathroom to his left, a mild irritant to his flames but nothing more. Taking a few steps into the entry way he left his luggage in the hall in case he had to make a hasty retreat.

Rounding the corner he faced two queen sized beds. The one closest to the window was still made but the one closest to the door sat a human. Blinking, he couldn’t believe what he was seeing at first. Was he in the wrong room? Looking down at the piece of paper that indicated his hotel room on it, no… this was the right room.

“Oh hey!” you exclaim as you jump off of the turned down bed. You were wearing nothing more than an oversized blue t-shirt that had ‘sarcastic comment loading, please wait’ on it and brief style underwear on. You had been working on some calculations on your computer and hadn’t noticed Grillby come in. Only disturbed from your work by the crackling sound of fire and the orange haze that had entered the room.

“Wow! You… you really ARE made of fire!” Your voice was of wonder as you take the moment to snap the laptop shut, having saved the work being done. Getting out of the bed, you could see the blue flush pass over his cheeks as you weren’t at all modest with your attire. Closing the distance between the two of you with a few steps, you start your walk around him, tilting your head from side to side as you examine him.

The entire time the flame monster hadn’t spoken, and besides the flush on his cheeks you hadn’t noticed any other kind of behavior difference. He just stood there completely frozen as you walked around him. He was wearing a long sleeve button up shirt and black slacks. Black belt, and black freshly shined shoes that you could see his flames reflected in. You couldn’t help but wonder if he always looked this nice or if it was just because he was traveling.

Two years ago you had started a project with very little detail. Something about monsters having returned from the underground and there being one that had started a restaurant. Apparently the monster, Grillby, had wanted to hand select wines from all over the world for his restaurant but in order to accomplish this he would need to be able to fly. Of course the regulation authority had a fit when they found out that the monster in question was made of flames. 

Over those years, the cargo company that you worked for had won the bid to develop a method in order to transport Grillby. The concept was more based around a creature, something like a horse that could be transported in a container, than what was standing before you. A living, breathing, creature of flame. Part of you felt guilty for the design that you had come up with at this point since there was very little information shared with you at the time.

“I’ll be your escort for the trip,” you extend a hand out to him as you introduce yourself by name. He just eyes your hand warily before you let it fall back to your side. Perhaps he was taking the term ‘escort’ to mean something different than what you had intended. The thought passed your mind and you flushed a deep scarlet. At that point your eyes take in that his luggage is nowhere to be found. “Traveling light huh?” The joke seems to bring him to the realization that his luggage was still in the hallway.

As he went to retrieve it, you go back to your perch on the bed, crossing your legs and placing the laptop back between your knees. Your position made him flush a deeper blue as he was able to see between your legs. A cough escaping his lungs, closed fist over his mouth as he looked away. Cute, he was shy! Part of you just wanted to exploit that more but this was supposed to be semi-professional.

“We need to go over some details about the trip tomorrow and I need to take some measurements. Would you like to do that now?” You pulled up a spreadsheet on the computer screen that you were going to use for the information.

“Now is fine…” his voice was like flames grasping a fresh part of wood. It crackled and made the words come out with a whisper. You blinked several times, looking at him as if he had just grown a second head. On the screen in front of you, you pull up a humanoid outline since it best represented what he appeared like.

Setting the laptop next to you, you clamored out of bed and went to the closet. Inside of a black pelican suitcase you pull out a FLIR E40sc thermal imaging camera. Coming back over to him, you sat down on his bed and patted the area next to him. Holding the device in your hands you wait until he is seated next to you before he turns it on.

“This is the FLIR E40sc thermal imaging camera. It allows me to see the temperature of an item, allowing me to see about 19,000 temperature readings at once. This is completely harmless. There is no contact required for me to get the temperature readings. I will need to use this once every thirty minutes while we are flying to ensure that you are still within the safety parameters of the containment unit on the airplane.” Turning on the device, you allow Grillby to observe it as you point it at your foot and pull the trigger. The only thing that happens is the display changes to show your foot in bright oranges and yellows while everything around it turns a deep purple and navy blue.

Holding the device out, you allow Grillby to take it from you and use it around the hotel room to take temperatures to prove that it is completely harmless. You could almost hear a sigh of relief coming from the flame elementals chest as you take the time to explain everything to him. He understood the complex nature of arranging this flight.

While he wandered around the room taking temperatures you continued on with your briefing. “We have three pilots joining us on the flight to France. They will be at the front of the plane in the cockpit or in the crew rest area, neither area are you authorized to approach. The B737-BCF we will be flying on has one restroom in the front and one galley with a cart for hot and cold food. Coffee, water, and soda will be available. If you need anything you will let me know.”

As Grillby sat next to you, you sigh as you have to come to the more difficult part of the conversation. How were you to know that he was going to be a humanoid style monster? That made what was going to happen all the worse.

Grabbing your laptop from the adjacent bed, you pull up some information regarding where he would be staying for the majority of the flight. “Besides utilizing the restroom…” would he even have to? You didn’t dare ask but just made the assumption to be safe, “you will be staying in a modified cargo container. It is ten feet long by six feet wide by seven feet high. There is a first class chair available that can recline fully to allow you to sleep. There will be entertainment available, a few movies, books, magazines, and games.” Your voice was soft as he looked at the picture.

Two years had been an accelerated timeline to ensure everything would work so Grillby certainly couldn’t complain. He was sure in the future, now that you knew who and what he was, that he couldn’t have to degrade himself to staying in this box. It was a box, a long dark gray cargo container that had circular holes in two parallel lines across the top, each about two inches in diameter.

“I’ll be sitting next to the container the entire time. As I said before I need to take temperature readings everything 30 minutes. You won’t know that I’m doing it though…” You didn’t mention that you would be sitting there with both a portable Halon and Water fire extinguishers because you didn’t know what would work best against him if the need arose. You seriously doubted that either would have the desired effect if it came down to it.

“Any questions?” You were relieved that Grillby didn’t seem like much of a talker. He shook his head, the flames flickering on top of his head. Even being six inches away from him the heat wasn’t much. “I… I need to take some baseline readings now. Could you please stand?”

Both of you stood up and you moved to the other side of the room with the FLIR gun and your laptop. Connecting them together and going back to the humanoid outline. Pointing the gun at him, you marveled that he wasn’t much warmer than 100 degrees. The readings instantly transferred to the laptop which you saved as the baseline.

“Thanks…” Closing out the windows, you shut down the laptop. The entire time Grillby is standing there, shifting from one foot to the other. You realize he probably is uncomfortable sharing the room with you, this was probably his first time staying in a room like this with human, let alone a human female. Letting out a soft laugh, you put everything away before climbing into bed.

To give him some peace of mind you lay there with your back facing him. The only light remaining in the room was the lamp beside you as you had turned off the other lights after packing up. Keeping your eyes closed, you listen to the soft rustling of fabric as he removed, as you imagined, his shirt. The zipper of his suitcase creaked, the temptation to look making you force your eyes shut tighter, causing creases along your forehead.

Only when you could hear the sound of the sheets rustling on the opposing bed did you ease up the squeezed eyelids. Your eyes causing place circles to form around your vision as you open them. There was a click and the lights went out, the only ambient light coming from the flame monster in the opposing bed.

“Night Grillby…” you mutter before silently drifting off to sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

Grillby woke as the sun peaked through the slightly opened curtains, casting a long slender line across his bed. Groaning, he pulled the sheets over his head, feeling the flames lick at the fabric and closed his eyes. Being a bartender meant that he often woke up late in the afternoon and he never fully got out of that habit when he came to the surface world.

Slowly he inched the sheets lower down his face again and peaked over to the other queen size bed. It was empty. His face scrunched a little as he pulled the glasses that were discarded on the bedside table back to his face, as if putting them on would make you magically appear. If it weren’t for the fact that the bed was unmade then he would have thought the interaction yesterday was a dream brought on by his need for sleep.

Resigning to waking up, his eyes flickered to the glaring red numbers on the clock… 8:07am. He couldn’t even remember what time he had gone to bed last night but knew it had been rather late. Long after you had turned out the lights and laid down, he laid there and went over all the strange things that had happened since he walked in through the hotel room. You seemed nice, intelligent, a bit disorganized, but invested in his well-being. Unlike a lot of humans he had dealt with since coming to the surface world you appeared like you thought of him more like a human than an animal.

Sitting on the edge of the bed in just his boxer shorts, his legs dangled over the edge. The coolness of the hotel room made him shiver, allowing his body temperature to increase a few degrees in hopes it would push back the cold in the room. Hunched over, his elbows rested on his upper thighs as he ran his fingers across the flames on his head. It was a slow morning routine but at least it was routine.

Getting to his feet he went to use the restroom. Before returning to his luggage to get out a change of clothing for the day he stopped by the open Pelican case that was sitting behind the partially opened closet door. The FLIR gun was sitting in there still, it was a neat piece of machinery. He appreciated that you had taken the time to go over the equipment that was going to be used. Reaching out to the door, he debated opening it and playing with the equipment again but decided against invading your privacy like that. Grillby was sure that if he just asked you would allow him to play with it again later.

Pulling on a blue polo shirt and black slacks, he took one final look in the mirror before departing the room. The door snapped behind him and he proceeded to the breakfast area. There you were, sitting in front of the television with your right ankle resting on your left knee. A cup of coffee in one hand, pressed to your lips, the steam from the cups lip fogging the bottom of your glasses as you read the newspaper. An empty plate rest on the table in front of you with the remnants of the morning’s breakfast evident in the little crumbs that scattered the Styrofoam surface.

For a moment he just observed you, cocking his head slightly to one side. You flicked your wrist holding the paper to make it stand more upright. Eyes focused on the text and ignoring the hot beverage in your hand. After a few moments, Grillby went off to gather his breakfast and sat down in another high backed chair close to you.

The subtle movements seemed to snap you from your deliberation of the article. Looking up at him, you lowered the cup of coffee and paper down. “Good morning Grillby. I was going to let you sleep a bit longer since our car doesn’t arrive until 9:30am. Would you like me to arrange them to pick us up sooner so I can show you around the airplane?” You flashed him a smile that made the blue appear back on his cheeks. He nodded to indicate that he would like that, as he was a bit curious as to what the airplane looked like.

“Enjoy your breakfast. I’ll see you back in the room then.” With that you stood up and departed to make the arrangements. Grillby sat there slowly munching his bread, which turned to toast almost instantly when touching his tongue because he enjoyed the crispness. For a hotel breakfast it was pretty standard, not something he would have sought out himself but given that it was readily available he wouldn’t turn it away.

Once finished with breakfast he met up with you in the hotel room to gather up his things. He watched as in your organized chaos manner would run around and gather random items to place into the bag before dashing off to the restroom to gather things there. It was exhausting watching you.

By this time you wore a loose fitting shirt, pajama pants, and house slippers. Shoving shirts and blue jeans into your over stuffed bag, Grillby couldn’t help but wonder why you chose that to fly in. Perhaps there was some strange custom when it came to flying that he wasn’t aware of and he was inappropriately dressed.

“Umm…” He hissed. You immediately froze, blinking as the fire monster had just spoken for the third time since you two had met. Something about his voice captivated you, but you had always been obsessed with staring into campfires as a child and would often be lost in a world of your own. Grillby reminded you of those times, comfortable.

“Am I… overdressed?” The ‘s’ hissed like a slowly growing flame across tinder. Looking over at him, you looked up and down his attire and just shook your head. It was your time to be the silent one, but he seemed to accept your answer. Sitting down on the corner of his bed as he watched you get back to work.

It was a wonder that you were done packing everything by the time the town car arrived promptly at 9:30am to retrieve you and Grillby. The sharply dressed man loaded the luggage into the trunk of the black Tesla Model S. Grillby climbed into the back seat but you promptly took the passenger seat up front.

You had a deep fascination over the Tesla brand cars. A grin spreading across your face, eyes lighting up as you began to play with the settings and features of the car on the large iPad like screen. Grillby watched you with mild curiosity as the button pressing involved changing radio stations, looking up memes on the cars available internet, and going through the car info as if this was the first time you had ever seen this kind of car.

The driver was less than amused by your constant toying with his machine. He often would try to put things back to the setting he desired them to be in. Whenever he tried this you would spout some fact in optimizing the battery life and car, in which case he would back down, roll his eyes, and go back to driving to the airport. Grillby assumed that after you two departed the man would go back to putting the settings back as desired, regardless of your aggressive recommendations.

Rounding the drive to the airport, Grillby watched as you had the driver punch a code into a gate that said ‘Restricted Access’ in bold red letters. At this point you directed the driver out towards the cargo area, dropping the two of you off close to the airplane. Grillby couldn’t believe how large the plane was, there was a door in the forward fuselage that was open and a forklift was placing some large wooden boxes into it. His mouth gaped as he observed the size of this thing and wondered how it would get off the ground.

The door opened, indicating that the both of you should depart the vehicle. Grillby had to compose himself as you went skipping off towards the three people that were standing under one of the wings. You were waving your hand high over your head as you ran towards them. Grillby laughed a little at the carefree nature that you seemed to have when around anything aviation.

Obviously you had forgotten to grab your luggage and the car had parked fifty feet away from the plane. Grillby stood there, debating hauling your items back and just as he reached down to grab your skull and crossbones duffle bag your hand grabbed it out from under his. How the heck did you get back here so fast?

Your face was flushed and you were breathing heavily, obviously you had sprinted over there and you waved one hand back and forth in front of you. “Don’t… worry… about this…” you heaved out as you grabbed the bag and the pelican case. Of course you had actually packed relatively light, being one to purchase clothing when you were going around to different cultures anyways. It was always fun to dress in a different fashion when you were out and about.

Shrugging, he grabbed his luggage and followed you back towards the airplane. The closer he got the more he was amazed that this thing actually was able to fly. His view caressed the silver fuselage, running across it from the cockpit windows where he could see one of the people inside, all the way to the rudder. The entire time he had to keep reminding himself to breathe, slow and steady, or else the anxiety would surely get to him. 

You seemed to sense his anxiety and settled down a bit. Perhaps it was the flickering of the flames, or the look in his eyes. You walked over to him and reached out, taking the bag from him and sighed. “Are you okay?”

He didn’t even seem to notice you taking the bag from his hand, this was the first time you had been close enough to actually touch him. The heat from his hand wavered with his anxiety, pulsing both high and low. Part of you wanted to grab the FLIR camera to get an idea of what was going on but you didn’t think that it would be well received.

“Hey… let’s walk around the airplane and I can explain some cool safety features about it to you!” His eyes went down to you and he bobbed his head. You left the luggage at the airstairs, walking with him to the left wing.

“This airplane has 21,943 cycles on it. Think of a cycle as every time the airplane flies and the landing gear touches the ground. A Boeing 737 average life is about 42,000 cycles but that’s only because most of the time the maintenance costs outweigh the benefit of keeping it airworthy.” You smile to him, trying to make him feel better by facts but you’re not entirely sure that the effect is truly sinking in.

Getting to the tip of the wing you pointed at it. “When an airplane type is manufactured the wings are actually flexed in these giant machines that grab hold of the wing tips. It pulls the tips up and flexes them up and down to determine how many times this can happen. So even during turbulence you don’t have to worry because the wings aren’t going to snap off.”

Snap off? Grillby shuttered at the thought and was seriously beginning to wonder if this was such a bright idea. Again you two started walking along the bottom of the wing towards the fuselage and back towards the rudder. Your fingers slowly grazed the silver paint of the airplane, a tenderness about it, as if you were stroking a soft fabric.

“Rudders are kind of neat, they don’t really do much in the air but are extremely important when taking off and landing. The rudder is the big fin looking thing and it moves side to side.” You smiled as you looked up at the livery on the rudder. “Eventually manufacturers want to find a way to reduce the rudder size. There are a couple of really neat concepts out there…” your voice trailed off as the passion started to take over you. Shaking your head you regained yourself as you walked around the other side, Grillby following you.

“I know you are nervous Grillby,” you sighed as you turned to him. He looked down, a little embarrassed by this fact you supposed. “It’s okay… many people are scared of flying. This is your first time. Just know that the airplane is built with a lot of redundancies. We won’t fall out of the sky… I promise.” The bright smile that crossed your face as you looked up at him, your hands clasped behind your back as you teetered on your heels and toes.

Seeing how confident you are made Grillby feel a little better. He gave you a half smile and nodded his head. The smile on your lips got larger, something he didn’t think was possible but he was glad.

As the two of you rounded the nose the plane the three crew members were standing at the bottom of the air stairs, the luggage already put away on the plane and the forward loading door closed. The crew members were pretty much dressed identically, wearing white shirts, blue ties, and blue slacks and black dress shoes. It didn’t matter that two were men and one was a woman, they all had their captain hats on and looked sharp. At this point Grillby realized that you were really dressed down for flying.

“Grillby… let me you introduce you to the crew,” you chimed as you stood next to the oldest gentleman. “This is Captain Fred Morgan.” He nodded his head towards Grillby, noticing that the fire elemental had stuck his hands in his pockets to try to avoid the awkwardness of an extended hand.

You took a large sliding step to the right and waved your hand towards the other gentleman. “This is Captain Elmer Klebstoff.” He nodded his head in greeting. Again you took that large sliding step next to the woman and waved your hand towards her. “And this is Captain River Pearson.”

This made Grillby blink and have to raise one of his hands to his mouth to contain his smile behind it. Part of him wanted to call Sans right away and let him know he met River on the surface, but he doubted that would be appropriate. The woman narrowed her chocolate brown eyes to Grillby, wondering if his behavior was from the fact that she was a woman pilot or something else.

“Sorry… I know someone named similarly.” He apologized. This seemed to satisfy her at least and she nodded her head. You looked at him, interested in knowing more but knowing now was not the time. If Grillby wanted to… or would… talk then you had time when the two of you were flying.

“Captain Morgan and Captain Pearson will be the beginning crew members for today. I’m sure if you have any questions about this airplane specifically I’m sure we can get you the answer.” Captain Klebstoff mentioned in his gruff lower tone. “We’ve already done our walk around of the exterior, everything is tied down inside… let us know when you’re ready to depart and we will get this baby spooled up.”

Grillby looked at you, your eyes were filled with excitement. That smile seemed to never leave your lips as you looked at the plane. Perhaps he could get behind you on the excitement… just not yet.

“Let’s go.”


End file.
